


Radio

by PoisonApple



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Americanization, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Zayn-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-18
Updated: 2012-12-18
Packaged: 2017-11-21 10:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/596741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonApple/pseuds/PoisonApple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>american au, Zayn is a bored, rich boy who is sick of having everything handed to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Radio

**Author's Note:**

> reposted from my [livejournal](http://marrynarry.livejournal.com/857.html). drug use is not explicit. zayn/niall is endgame.

Zayn knows he’s a walking cliche. Spoiled rich boy, weary from too much money and not enough love. Drinking too much, studying too little. Jet-setting from his parent’s home in Beverly Hills, to the penthouse his parents bought him in New York while he attends NYU. He’s tired of living, and he hasn’t even really  _done_  anything with his life yet.  
  
In reality, Zayn should be perfectly content with his champagne and expensive suit lifestyle but at the end of it all, what will he have to show for it? When he lies underneath his cold, billion thread count sheets and thinks about his life, he is sure of only two things: his parents don’t _really_  love him, and there is nothing keeping him in New York.  
  
The next morning he brings some of his most expensive possessions to a thrift shop and sells them. Then he buys a modest car, throws a bag of clothes in the backseat, and drives out of the city.  
  
***  
 _kiss me hard before you go_  
 _summertime sadness_  
 _I just wanted you to know_  
 _that, baby, you're the best_  
***  
  
Ohio isn’t too bad. Columbus is nothing like New York or Los Angeles. It’s quiet and easy-paced, just like Liam, the mechanic Zayn gets a job working for. Liam is polite, easy to chat with, and he’s a great boss because he doesn’t ask Zayn questions, like why he suddenly ran away from his cushy life as the child of wealthy socialites. He doesn’t press, he just gently guides Zayn through learning all about how to fix an engine. He’ll make a wonderful father one day, Liam will. But right now he’s holding Zayn down on his mattress, whispering into Zayn’s skin about how beautiful he is. Liam’s fingers are rough and calloused from the years of hard and sweaty work he’s had to endure to enjoy this simple level of comfort in his life.  
  
Liam reminds Zayn of everything he is not. Liam would be perfect for Zayn one day, but it’s just too much, too soon. Maybe that’s why Zayn runs.  
  
When Zayn tells Liam a few weeks later that he has to leave, Liam doesn’t ask questions. Just smiles and tells Zayn he’s going miss him. If Zayn is being honest, he’ll miss Liam too.  
  
***  
 _walking through the city streets_  
 _is it by mistake or design_  
 _I feel so alone on the Friday nights_  
 _can you make it feel like home, if I tell you you’re mine_  
***  
  
Louis is loud and lovable. Zayn is working as a bartender in Austin and Louis is a teacher who needs a few drinks at the end of a long week. He makes Zayn laugh as he hasn’t in ages, or maybe ever. Louis is mischievous adventures. Zayn gets off work at 1am and Louis is waiting for him with a perfectly rolled blunt. When Zayn wakes up on the roof of a building with Louis curled up next to him, he only has vague recollections of what had happened the night before. He remembers Louis thinking it would be a great idea to climb the fire escape of this building, because everything was better higher up. He hears Louis snuffle awake beside him, says good morning to him with a long kiss on the mouth.  
  
The same thing happens every Friday. Louis shows up, they leave at 1am and they wake up some random place around the city. One memorable night they wake up on a picnic bench in the park, a police officer shaking them awake.  
  
Louis is fun times and carefree adventures. But Louis is also already taken. Zayn is in Austin for about three months when Louis shows Zayn a picture of a beautiful brunette with a doll face, and a messy braid in her hair. _El_ , Louis explains with a heavy sigh. She’s the French teacher at the school he works at. And Louis is irrevocably hung up on her. Zayn is just a fun time to Louis. He’s upset about this turn of events until he realizes that Louis is just a fun time for him too.  
  
The next Friday he tells Louis that he has to leave town. That night Louis takes Zayn back to his apartment. They smoke a joint, and then get lost in each other. At the end, Louis is tracing the lines of Zayn’s stomach and apologizing,  _sorry sorry sorry_ , in to Zayn’s neck.  
  
 _It’s fine_ , Zayn reassures him. _We were using each other_.  
  
***  
 _and there's no remedy for memory your face is_  
 _like a melody, it won't leave my head_  
 _your soul is haunting me and telling me_  
 _that everything is fine_  
 _but I wish I was dead_  
 _every time I close my eyes_  
 _it's like a dark paradise_  
***  
  
Maybe Las Vegas isn’t the smartest stop on his trip. And Harry...Harry is a whirlwind. Harry is a bartender in Vanity in the Hard Rock Hotel. Harry doesn’t stop. Harry is drops of E, cocaine snorted off a dancer’s stomach in the VIP booth of Marquee, that he lies his way in to. But Harry is also hazy mornings and unexpected sweetness. He is omelets and orange juice for breakfast. And maybe that’s why Zayn stays for so long. Harry craves human contact, and he makes you crave his attention, makes you jealous of anyone else he even  _looks_  at. Zayn would wake up on Harry’s sweaty, low thread count sheets, and Harry would be curled up into his side like a cat. He would stretch as he woke up, blinking slowly and nosing into Zayn’s side, seeking his touch. And Zayn would give it to him. Always.  
  
In the end, Harry is the hardest to leave. Despite his facade of cold, impersonal partying, drugs and general not giving a fuck, Harry needs human approval and love. And he attaches himself to Zayn. And Zayn isn’t planning on sticking around.  
  
He spends about 3 hours with Harry inconsolable, rolling on his bed. Trying to explain how they just aren’t  _made_  for each other. Harry would find someone better for him. Someone to help him settle down. Zayn needs someone to help  _him_  settle down too, and they can't do that for each other.  
  
In many ways being with Harry reminds him of his life  _before_ , except more dangerous because he cares for Harry more than he cares for any of his friends in New York or Beverly Hills.  
  
Eventually Harry understands, and he’s able to let Zayn go. They fuck one last time before Zayn leaves. Harry scratches his nails roughly down Zayn’s back, and the marks stay there for days after he leaves Vegas.  
  
***  
 _Now I'm in LA and it's paradise_  
 _I've finally found you_  
 _Oh, sing it to me_  
 _Now my life is sweet like cinnamon_  
 _Like a fucking dream I'm living in_  
***  
  
Zayn realizes he’s accidentally driving in the direction of Los Angeles, so he takes a turn and starts heading to San Francisco.  
  
He stops in a small town with a side of the road diner. He’s still holding Harry heavy on his shoulders as he sits in the booth, despite it having been nearly a month since he saw him last. Zayn tried to shake Harry off as he exiled himself to a beach town with very little human contact. Certainly no contact with any attractive men who could have reminded him of the way Harry used to smile.  
  
“You look like you could use a slice of pie,” a very loud but friendly voice shakes him from his thoughts. His waiter is standing by his table, a sweet looking boy with braces, a shock of blonde running through his brunette hair and bright blue eyes. He looks about 17, which is disappointing. He’s very cute.  
  
“I’m Niall, I’m your server.”  
  
“I’m Zayn. And pie sounds lovely, actually. Do you have ice cream?”  
  
“Do we have ice cream? What kind of question, of course we have ice cream! Listen, I know exactly what you need. I’ll be back.”  
  
When the waiter returns a few minutes later with apple pie, ice cream, whipped cream and caramel sauce, Zayn is pretty shocked.  
  
“Apple is my favourite, how did you know?”  
  
“Well, I don’t know much, but I definitely know pie. Had you pegged as an apple guy as soon as you walked in the door.” Niall looks so proud of himself, Zayn can’t help the giggle that escapes.  
  
“Are you busy?”  
  
Niall looks around the mostly empty diner. “Not really, no.”  
  
“What kind of pie are you?”  
  
Niall smiles wide, his white braces on display. “Kind of an apple guy myself, as well.”  
  
“You’ve got to share this with me, then.”  
  
He leaves the diner a few hours later, Niall’s number in his phone, who it turns out is 21 not 17, much to Zayn’s delight. He drives up the road to the motel and gets a room.  
  
Niall is sunshine. Niall is the sticky sweetness of caramel and ice cream and pie. He’s loud laughter when Zayn is in good spirits, and a quiet companion when Zayn is in a mood. He’s a warm hug and absolutely no judgement when Zayn explains how he ran away from his apartment in New York. Niall is a cold beer after a long day of work, watching a game of football on his small television. And, after a few weeks, Niall is naked on the scratchy motel sheets, and pale in the moonlight filtering through the window.  
  
Soon Niall is filling in all the messy cracks of Zayn’s life with his brightness and Zayn can’t say no when Niall says he has room for one more in his small house. And Zayn can’t really imagine anywhere he’d rather be than listening to Niall strum his guitar, singing along to messily played songs, eating food brought home from the diner, watching television with Niall falling asleep curled up against him on the couch. No one looks better than Niall does with hickeys covering his pale neck, fingerprints bruised into his slim hips, blue eyes dark with arousal, hair sticking in all directions slick with sweat, and cheeks flushed red with heat.  
  
And when Zayn wakes up to Niall’s smile and messy kisses, he realizes there’s finally nothing for him to run from, but plenty to stay for

**Author's Note:**

> this only took me like a day and a half to write, and I listened to Lana del Rey the whole time, hence the song quotes throughout. The songs, in order of appearance, are: Summertime Sadness, Born to Die, Dark Paradise, and finally Radio, which is where I got the title for the fic from. I love comments + feedback.


End file.
